Glass tempering nozzle



United States Patent 3,199,969 GLASS TEMPERHNG NOZZLE Raymond Johnston, Southfieid, Mich, assignor to Chrysler Corporation, Highland Park, Mich a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 20, 1961, Ser. No. 166,757 1 Claim. (Cl. 65-343) The present invention relates broadly to the tempering of sheet material and more particularly to an improved apparatus for tempering glass sheets or plates.

It is common practice in the tempering of glass sheets to first heat the sheets to substantially the point of soften' ing the glass and then to suddenly chill the heated sheets to place the outer surfaces thereof in compression and the interiors thereof under tension. By this means, the structural, mechanical and heat resistant properties of the sheets may be improved.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a novel nozzle apparatus for more evenly tempering glass sheets or the like.

It is another object of this invention to provide a tempering nozzle with a flexible tip that is adjustable vertically of the nozzle base and free to bend with respect to the nozzle base so that the tip portion may cushion any impact with the sheet of material during a tempering operation. Vertical tip adjustability permits the nozzle end to be spaced at any desired distance from said sheet.

It is another object of this invention to provide nozzle means for obtaining a more efficient use of the cooling medium so as to impart greater tempered strength to thin glass sheets than has heretofore been possible by previous methods and apparatus.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide for the arrangement of the nozzle tips through which the cooling fluid is directed so that the tip outlets can conform as nearly as possible to the shape of the bent glass sheet to be tempered so as to thereby achieve a more uniform tempering effect.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a tempering nozzle tip formed from a flexible coil spring or other resilient element which nozzle tip can be screwed or otherwise frictionally attached to a nozzle base portion to provide for ready adjustment of the nozzle tip relative to the base portion.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a flexible nozzle tip portion that is able to oscillate relative to the nozzle base portion as a result of the passage of cooling medium through the flexible tip portion.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent from a reading of the following description and a consideration of the related drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the several figures:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of tempering equipment for carrying out this invention and showing the general arrangement of the various components thereof;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the tempering apparatus taken along the line of and looking in the direction of the arrows 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the tempering apparatus with the view being taken along the line of and in the direction of the arrows 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional elevational view of a tempering nozzle assembly with the view being taken along the line of and in the direction of the arrows 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional elevational view taken along the line of and in the direction of the arrows 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional elevational view of structures Pce a modified form of tempering nozzle arrangement embodying this invention.

While the present invention is not restricted to the treating of any particular type of shape of material, it is specifically well adapted to carry out the difficult job of tempering curved glass sheets of the type used by the automotive and aircraft industries and it will be described in that connection primarily. However, this invention is equally well applied to the tempering of vertically suspended glass panels such as the side window and vent window glass panels for automobile vehicle bodies where there is a frequent tendency for the suspended window panels to oscillate during the tempering operation and to be thrown into contact with the associated tempering nozzle elements.

In the drawings, particularly FIGS. 1 through 3, bending molds of the type indicated generally at 10 in FIGS. 2 and 3 carry relatively thin glass sheets S to be bent and tempered. These originally flat glass sheets S are suspended across the bending molds 1th and are started along a conveyor 11 which extends through a furnace or heating chamber 12. The molds with the fiat glass sheets thereon enter the heating chamber 12 through the inlet end 51 thereof. As a result of heating of the glass in the chamber 12 to appropriate glass bending temperature, the flat glass sheets S sag upon the bending molds 10 and conform to the shape thereof. The molds 10 with the bent glass thereon leave the heating chamber 12 through the discharge end 52 thereof and pass onto the chain conveyors 13, 14. The chain conveyors 13, 14 carry the molds 10 into the tempering station 15 where the heated glass sheet will be quickly cooled by the application of a cooling medium such'as air or some similar gaseous fluid. After passing through the tempering section or station 15, the molds 10 are transferred to another section 16 leading to a semi-circular conveyor section 17 which reverses the direction of travel of the molds and leads them to a return and unloading conveyor 18 extending parallel to and alongside of the heating chamber 12. The bent glass sheets S have had sufficient time to cool when the molds reach the unloading conveyor 18 and at this section of the conveyor line the bent glass sheets S are removed from the molds and the empty molds pass on to the turn around section 19 and the loading section 11 for a repeat operation.

Referring now particularly to the tempering or air system at the station 15, it will be found that the tempering system includes an upper blast-head manifold 20 and a lower blast-head manifold 21 through which a suitable cooling medium such as air may be directed and discharged upon the glass sheets S as the molds 10 pass between the upper and lower manifolds 20, 21 as shown in FIG. 2. The upper blast-head manifold 20 is supported above the path of the molds 10 by a frame structure which includes the spaced uprights 22 and the cross beam 23. The lower blast-head manifold 21 is mounted on suitable I-beams or base supports 24 which are located beneath the mold conveyor belts 13, 14.

Looking specifically at the lower blast-head 21 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) it will be seen that the manifold 21 comprises one or more hollow box-like structures that extend between and are supported on the I-bearns 24. Extending upwardly from the manifold 21 are a plurality of spaced nozzle bases 26. These nozzle bases 26 (see FIG. 4) are essentially short lengths of tubing that are preferably a high temperature metal alloy. Each nozzle base 26 has attached to its upper end a tubular resilient element 27 that provides a flexible conduit tip for the outer end of the nozzle base section 26. The nozzle tip section 27 is sufficiently flexible that it can oscillate to a limited degree With respect to the base section 26.

I m9 The inside diameter of the flexible coil spring 27 is such that it maybe frictionally applied to the outer surface of the upstanding nozzle base section 26 and can be readily adjusted, because of the telescopic arrangement of the spring tip 27 and the nozzle base 26, to various lengths with respect to the overall height of the free end of the tip section 27 outwardly from the base 26. While a coil spring is shown as the flexible tip section 27, still, it is within the scope of this invention, as is set forth in the appended claims, to form this flexible nozzle tip section 27 from rubber, plastic, coiled wire or any similar materials that will flex as well-as cushion impact with the glass sheet S that may be passed between the opposed ends of the upper and lower spaced tempering nozzles.

The upper blast-head 20 is similar in design to the lower blast-head 21. The upper blast head 20 includes vertically extending, downwardly directed nozzle base portions 36 that are formed of metal tubing. Connected to and extending downwardly from the ends of the nozzle base sections 36 are coil spring tip sections 37. The tip sections 37 are identical to the tip sections 27 utilized with the lower blast-head tempering nozzle elements. Cooling medium, such as air, or a similar gas, is supplied to each of the blast-heads 2t 21 by means of supply conduits 33.

With the upper and lower blast-head arrangements shown in FIG. 2, the nozzles 26 and 36 may be displaced with respect to one another such that the air jets applied to the upper and lower surfaces of the glass sheets S extending between the upper and lower nozzles will have the cooling fluid more or less evenlyspre-ad out across the entire surface of the sheet S. Furthermore, the tip sections 27 and 37 of the several tempering nozzles may be vertically adjusted on the associated nozzle base sections,

because of their telescopic connection thereto, so that the discharge ends of the several nozzles are equally spaced above or below'the adjacent glass sheet S. The facility with which the coil spring nozzle tip sections 27,.37'can be vertically adjusted on the supporting nozzle base sections 26, 36 respectively is a prime advantage of this arrangement because it permits the same blast-head units 20, 21 and associated nozzle sections to be used for greatly varying shapes of bent glass by merely adjusting the tip sections 27, 37 on the ends of the nozzle base sections. Not only is the vertical adjustability of the coil spring tipsections an advantage in matching the curvature of the glass to be tempered thereby, but the flexibility of the resilient tip sections also has several advantages. First, the flexible tip sections can vibrate or oscillate as a result of the air blast being forced therethrough and this tends to spread the air jet across a surface area of the associated glass sheet rather than applying it in a single spot. little danger of the glass sheet being broken or the nozzles being permanently bent out of position in the event there should be an accidental striking of the nozzles by the glass S during its passage between the blast-heads 20, 21.

In moving the mold 10 with its glass sheet S through the tempering or air quenching station 15, the molds are carried by the chain type conveyor means 13 and 14. Each of the conveyors 13, 14 is driven by a sprocket (not shown) mounted on a cross shaft 39 that is journaled on' the upright support 40a The shaft 39 at its outer end carries a sprocket 41 of which is passed a drive chain 42 connected to a suitable power source not shown. The con- Also, because the tip sections are flexible there is from the glass to be tempered, but in addition the resilient veyor chains 13,14 are guided during their travel in an endlesseircuit by a channel-like trough composed of the spaced angle irons 43 that are supported by a base plate 44 that rests on the upper ends of the associated support 40.

FIG. 6 shows a modified form of thisinvention wherein the cooling fluid manifold or plenum chamber 121 has upstanding tubular nozzle bases 126 connected thereto. Arranged concentrically about each nozzle base 126 is an annular hat section or cup 128 that is pierced by an aperture 129. The edges of the aperture'129 provide a nut thread portion through which the coil spring nozzle tipsection 127 can be threadingly rotated. Withthe arrangernent shown in FIG. 6 the coiled tip section 127 can be screwed:up and down in the cup 128 to adjust the length that the tip section 12% projects outwardly'from the top portion 130 of the hatsection 128. This permits ready adjustment of the nozzle tips to keep them at the desired spacing from the glass sheet. The lower end 127:: of the coil spring tip section 127 encircles the nozzle tube base 126 and may be slightly spaced therefrom or in contact with the outer side surface of the base tube 126. It will be seen from FIG. '6 that the adjustable, resilient, nozzle 127 forms a conduit continuation of the base tube 126 to provide for the application of -a jet of cooling air to the adjacent sheet S. The adjustable nozzle tip127 not only provides for variation in spacing of its tip end 127!) tip'127. can vibrate under the influence of the air blast passing therethrough so as to spread out the cooling effect over'a relatively large area. Also, the coil spring tip 127 can bend and/or be pushed downwardly or even compressed slightly if by accident it should be brought into contactwiththe adjacent surface of the glass sheet S during a tempering operation. The FIG. 6 form of the invention'provides-for a more accurate adjustment of the tip end 127b than the form shown in FIG. 6, but each form has the same advantages over a conventional rigid air 'blast tube.

Iclaim:

Apparatus for treating heated glass sheets or plates with jet sprays of a fluid cooling medium applied to a surface of the sheets or plates comprising a conveyor mechanismto move said sheets or plates along a predetermined path, a pressurized cooling fluid manifold'having a plurality of spaced, nozzle tubes projecting outwardly from the'manifold towards said sheets or plates, and a closed References Cited by the Examiner V UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/60 White 65'-349 FOREIGN PATENTS. 92,714 10/58 Norway.

DONALL H. SYLVESTER, Primary Examiner. 

